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2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.

This is a photo and video documentary project of the people who lived through the most oppressive period of LGBT history in the UK.

The Sexual Offences Act 1967

After an intense late night debate in the House of Commons, The Sexual Offences Act 1967 finally, partially, decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men, both of whom had to have attained the age of 21. Read more here.

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2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.

The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 was originally “an Act to make further provision for the Protection of Women and Girls, the suppression of brothels, and other purposes”, but a last minute amendment tabled by Henry Labouchere, Liberal MP for Northampton, commonly known as the Labouchere Amendment, made “gross indecency” a crime in the United Kingdom.

These charges affected so many in the period that it became known as ‘The Blackmailer’s Charter’, and for the next 8 decades men were persecuted, imprisoned and chemically castrated just for who they loved. It is impossible to say how many lives were devastated or how many chose to take their own life rather than face the shame on themselves and loved ones, but it easily numbers in the hundred thousands.

This is a photo and video documentary project of the people who lived through that most oppressive period of LGBT history in the UK.

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Collaborate with an artist and poet as they make new works exploring queer identity 3 May – 11 June 2017 at 10.00–18.00 Poet Dean Atta and visual artist Ben Connors take The Black Flamingo, a metaphor used within Atta’s work to explore identities of queer people of colour, as the starting point for this collaboration. Responding to …

Presenting the first exhibition dedicated to queer British art 5 April – 1 October 2017 Featuring works from 1861–1967 relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) identities, the show marks the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England. Queer British Art explores how artists expressed themselves in a time when …